When international student Michael from Germany at Maroochydore State High went to one of his school assemblies last week, little did he know that he was about to join this weekend's 40 Hour Famine.

I am going to do the 40h Famine together with my mates Jo (Norway), Dylan (Australia), Johannes (Germany), Louisa (Germany), Marie-Sophie (Germany) and lots of other mates from our school as a group for Maroochydore State High School.

How it started

I think it started on a parade we held last Monday. Two highly motivated girls presented the idea of the 40h Famine. I can't speak for everybody, because everybody has different motivations from wanting to lose weight to testing one's borders. My main personal motivation is to actually help by doing something. I'd like to find out how many people are willing to give. How often have I heard the question 'Well, but why don't you eat for 40 hours? That doesn't help the kids over in Nepal or wherever either?' It's not really about that! I see this action as a way to help raise attention, which means funds.

When reading some stories of those kids I felt kind of responsible for giving something back. We've all had luck to be born in countries like Australia, Norway, Germany, etc.. And especially now, being able to travel and experience a different culture whilst other children in other parts of the world don't even have enough to eat to survive, makes me feel - I don't want to say guilty because I didn't have any influence on that... but sorry is maybe the better word. I feel sorry for them and that's why I want to help.

Setting Goals

When I set my personal goal of raising a minimum of A$200 I decided to donate the difference if I wouldn't be able to achieve my target. We will see how we go. At the moment I'm at 62% ($125).

Turning Worlds into Action

As nobody of us has ever done it before, we have no idea how it will feel like. So we will be experimenting. To be honest, I have not quite an exact idea how I will spend my weekend. I think that it depends on my form of the day(s). I first just want to concentrate on not fainting :) but I certainly won't go into hibernation and sleep the whole time. At least this is my goal.

Drinking lots of water and juices will hopefully be a good way to overcome the urge of having a bite to eat. According to 40h Famine’s rules we are allowed to "eat" an appropriate amount of sugar cubes to prevent hypoglycaemia. Health and safety should still be the number one issue.

Since his arrival in January, Michael has taken more than 12,000 photos. The above allow us a sneak peak into his experience as a WEP student from Germany living on Queensland's beautiful Sunshine Coast.

WEP is proud to support Michael in this experience. To see how much Michael has raised so far, please click here.